Knuckles
by thedrummerthatwrites
Summary: Maya is searching for answers when Riley is bullied.
1. Know Your Enemy

**Knuckles**

 **Summary: Maya is searching for answers when Riley is bullied.**

 **Based on Cassie-the-librarian's prompt.**

 **I thought of putting Cassie's prompt in a story where Riley and Lucas are werewolves while Maya, Farkle and Zay are a group of independent superheroes before deciding that it would:**

 **a) take too long,**

 **b) be too complicated and longer than I intend it to be.**

 **So I separated Cassie's prompt and that idea, which is being written as of posting this. Look out for that.**

It happened in the library, near the science-fiction section.

Riley, for what all logic was worth, knew she shouldn't stick her nose where it didn't belong. But with her good heart and oh-so-curious demeanour she couldn't help it. So when she heard a few slight scuffles a few rows behind her, naturally, she had to check what was going on.

"So you think scribbling on my face is funny, huh, Laura?"

"N-no! Please! It wasn't me!" Squirmed the little girl, who was trapped in a vice grip from another girl with beefy arms and a mean, sour face. The big girl had to be at least five feet two - much bigger than an average third grader - while the little girl was just as tall as an eight-year old tot. "That was Kelli, she had the marker and - "

"Well, I caught you near me, and the marker was a few inches away from you," the big girl drawled, lifting a kicking Laura higher and higher, "Just so you know, I don't like it when people draw rainbows and bumblebees on my face. I also don't like it when little runts like _you -_ _"_ She scrunched her eyes to meet Laura's terrified ones. "try and hit me just to get even after I pushed you off the slide last week. You'll never, ever match up to me! You understand, punk?!"

"Y-yes, Brianna!" Laura winced as Brianna's hand tightened around the collar of her shirt. "Yes, I understand!"

"Good. Now, about getting even…" Laura choked back a sob and closed her eyes as Brianna made a fist.

And that was when Riley decided to do something noble. Also, dumb? Yeah. Probably.

"Hey!"

Brianna and Laura looked around, startled by the sudden noise. Brianna scowled as she saw a little eight year old Riley standing beside the bookshelf that hid them from the empty library. Riley's hands were in fists - partly to look at least a bit intimidating, partly to disguise her trembling hands - and her eyes shone in determination. "Let her down, Brianna."

"You," She spat. "You should know better than to interfere with things that aren't your business, missy."

"You can't just hit a third grader. It's just not right!"

"'Just not right'?" Brianna scoffed. "Who are you to judge?" There was an _oof_ from Laura as she was dropped unceremoniously to the floor. Riley trembled from her spot as Brianna loomed closer. Seriously, it wasn't nice to see a giant bully leer over you with an evil glint in their eyes.

"She hit me first. Now you can take her punishment for her!" She shoved Riley roughly to a cart of books that was parked near a pile of big encyclopedias. One of the books from the stack fell and hit her eye with the tip of it's spine. Riley cried out in pain, and her vision went black.

When her vision cleared, the first thing Riley noticed was pain, and lots of it. She gasped and clutched her left eye, which caused her to hiss as her palm grazed over the sore mark right below her eye. She tried to stand up, but her knees gave way and she collapsed atop a pile of geography books. There she lied, tears starting to form in her eyes.

"Oh, gosh, are you okay?" Came a soft voice beside her. Laura opened a bleary eye to see the same girl being bullied earlier - _Laura,_ she thought - kneel beside her, looking worried and scared and grasping Riley's shoulders and trying to bring her to a sitting position.

"Ouch, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!" Came the response, "My arm hurts. Be careful!"

"Sorry!" Laura squeaked. It took a few more tries, but she was able to get Riley to stand at last. "Oh, no, you've got a black eye!"

"Yeah, figured as much." Riley said. It must've come out harsher than she intended, because Laura flinched a little. "Sorry, I just… I'm grouchy and all, now that I've got this - " she gestured to her black eye, "and the fact that I know I just did something very stupid which I shouldn't have done in the first place."

"Yeah, about that; I thought it was brave, what you did, but it _was_ dumb."

Riley snorted. "Glad someone agrees too."

" _But!_ You shouldn't have done it."

Riley looked shocked. "What? Don't be stupid!"

"You heard me. I could take care of myself!"

Riley huffed indignantly. "Well, excuse me, since it seemed like you were about to get the lights punched out of you, Ms. I-Can-Take-Care-of-Myself!"

Laura sighed. "No, no, no, what I meant is that I've taken care of Brianna myself before-"

"-And you thought you can do so again this time?"

"Something like that?" She said. "I'm sorry if I sound so insensitive, I mean, you _did_ get her to stop from hitting me, and you're all bruised and stuff, and it's just that no one's ever did that to me before." She finished.

Riley huffed again. "Well, before you start with the thank you's and stuff, how about getting me patched up? These bruises won't take care of themselves, you know."

"Right, right. Follow me." Laura held out her hand for Riley to hold, and she didn't withdraw it even when Riley didn't take it. "I'll take care of it."

A few hours and two cups of cocoa later, Riley found herself walking home to their apartment a few blocks away from the school. She still had the little bruises on her back and arms, though they didn't seem to ache as much anymore.

The last few hours with Laura were… interesting. After the library incident, she took Riley to the girls' bathroom and tended to Riley's bruises and black eye. They chatted about stuff like homework and nasty teachers and gross kids and toys and bullies. You know, stuff kids talk about all the time.

She put makeup to disguise the black eye, and how a third-grader managed to put makeup so professionally Riley didn't know.

"We better put makeup on the other eye, too, just in case," Laura told her through a mouth of cocoa marshmallows.

And that was how Riley ended up with a face as glamorous and full of makeup like the divas on TV.

The apartment was warm and cozy. Cory and Topanga were in the kitchen, discussing birthday plans for Riley's upcoming birthday while Maya ate cookies and listened (the good thing? Even though she was absent that day, Maya was granted pardon because she helped the Matthews with their plans).

She turned around at the sound of the door opening and closing. "Hey, so - Rley, what the heck is that on your face?!"

Cory and Topanga jumped at the outburst before Cory screamed, too. "RILEY MATTHEWS YOU ARE TAKING THAT MAKEUP OFF YOUR FACE RIGHT THIS INSTANT!"

"Calm down!" Topanga shushed her husband. She got a face towel and walked over to Riley.

"Mom, no! I- urghgeterwopmi,"

"There! All cleaned up and _Riley, is that a black eye?!_ _"_ Topanga said. "What happened?!"

"Mom, it's alright. I just fell, s'all," Riley said. She felt horrible lying to her parents, but hey, there was a bit of truth to her excuse. Judging from Maya and Cory's expressions, she's sure that they don't believe her as well.

"You fell," Cory repeated.

"Yeah,"

"And that gave you a black eye?"

"Cory!" Topanga hissed.

"What? I've heard weirder excuses before." Which was true, given that he _is_ a high school teacher for two years in the running and all.

Topanga sighed. "Never mind your father, dear," She said. "But really, did a li'l ol' fall give you that shiner?"

Riley nodded.

"Something must've hit you in the eye for that to happen," Topanga mused. Riley nodded again. Well, at least that part was true, too.

"Well, come on, let's get you washed and cleaned." She started to steer a reluctant Riley in the direction of the bathroom, but Maya came in between them and took Riley's arm instead.

"I'll do it!" She said, a little too enthusiastically for Riley's liking.

Topanga pulled back, albeit reluctantly. "Well, okay then, Maya dear. Just be careful. Alright, girls?"

"Got it, Mrs. Matthews!"

Riley swore she heard her dad say, "That was the best thing she could think of? Seriously?" as she was dragged to her bedroom.

"What really happened out there, Riley?" Maya said as soon as she locked Riley's bedroom's door. She crossed her arms and leaned against the door frame, trying to look intimidating and all which would've worked except Maya had slightly levelled a tooth skateboarding so she looked like a grumpy chipmunk.

Riley sighed. "I- "

"Don't give me that 'I fell' nonsense," Maya said. " _Who did this to you?_ And seriously, you let someone put makeup on you? You never even let _me_ do that!" Riley knew she should feel slightly guilty at the hurt in Maya's voice, but she found herself getting a bit too annoyed to care.

"Fine. I was shoved into a bookcase, and I _fell,_ then a book hit me in the eye. Happy?"

"You were shoved? Who did this?" Maya's voice was strained, so Riley knew that she was really angry. "Was it Decker? 'Cos I swear when I see him again, I'll- "

"God, no, it's not Decker," Riley sighed. 

"Was it that weird Minkus kid?"

"No; He wouldn't even hurt a fly."

Maya scoffed. "You never know," She said. Walking over to Riley's bay window, she sat down and patted the spot beside her, but Riley didn't move. She sighed. "Riles, look, this might be getting annoying for you, but-"

"What do you care?"

" _I care because you're my best friend_. I love you. Your parents care about you, and I wish mine were the same. You know I'd do anything to protect you."

A sigh. "I know."

"But I won't really be able to do anything if I don't know what's happening here."

"I know," Riley hugged herself. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry," She whispered.

Maya patted the space beside her. Riley slowly walked over and sank into the cushions, wariness coming over her like a blanket. "I'm just afraid that one day you'll get hurt, and I don't want that to happen," She whispered to Maya.

"Shh," Maya put her arms around Riley, rubbing comforting circles around her back. "I can watch myself, Riles. But it's _you_ I'm worried about."

"Why? Why always me?"

"Cause, like I said, you're my best friend. For like, forever. I'll watch your back, and you've got mine," She said. "How else would you explain you talking us out of trouble when I do something stupid, or me looking out for you when there's a bully around?"

Riley giggled a bit, but quickly sobered. "But I can take care of myself," She said.

"Mm-hmm," Maya mused. "That explains why you've got a black eye and a bruise on your left arm."

"Heavy books, their fault," Riley grumbled.

Maya looked at her intently, as if studying her. It was silent for a while, until she spoke. "You're not gonna tell me who it is, are you?"

"No, I just wanna lie down and rest," Riley yawned. "But promise, you can catch her tomorrow at school."

"Pinky promise?"

"Pinky promise." They flexed their pinkies.

Maya sighed and stood up. Rile went to her bed, snuggling into her blankets for an afternoon nap. After a few minutes of staring at her back, Maya moved to the door to let herself out.

"Maya?"

"Yeah?"

"Stay with me?"

Maya smiled and moved to the space on the bed beside Riley. There they just lied down beside each other in comfortable silence.

"Maya, what you said about having each other's backs… Did you mean that?"

"Of course I did. I would be really, really sad to see you hurt," Maya said.

Riley whispered. "I'm sorry for the way I acted earlier. That was mean."

"You have nothing to apologise about," Maya cooed. "It happens to the best of us. But I swear, when I find out who did this to you, he'll pay."

"Violence isn't always the answer, Maya."

"Yeah, but you gotta do what you gotta do, especially if it's to people who hurt my Riley who was trying to be the shining armour knight thing to help some poor kid."

Riley frowned. "You knew?"

"I'm not that dumb, pumpkin."

"I didn't say that," Riley said. "But it would've saved us some time when you were interro- uh, integrro- ugh. When you were talking to me."

"Well, I just needed to know how you got that black eye, then I put together the puzzle pieces which was easier thanks to your habit of helping people even when you shouldn't."

Riley giggled. "Okay then, genius," She said. "I love you, Maya."

"I love you too, Riley." Maya answered. "Now go nap or something."

Riley smiled, listening to the beat of Maya's heart as she lay on her shoulder, warmth filling her from the arms that were hugging her. In a few minutes, they were both asleep.


	2. Sugar, We're Goin' Down

**So this chapter tells what happens the day after the events of the first chapter. Enjoy.**

 **Oh, and if you can spot the really big reference to my favourite web series (and the only one I know, to be honest), you get a big fat kudos.**

 **~ 9:30 AM ~**

Art class was one of the very few classes Riley liked in school. One, because its art, her very favourite subject ever; Two, because Ms. Hollis was a very kind lady, and her girlfriend Carmilla was nice enough on her 'good days', too; And three, because it was one of the very few classes she shared with Maya.

"Ms. Hart," Ms. Hollis, the art teacher, called out. "Why were you absent yesterday?"

"Oh! Um, uh, family thing," Maya said. Riley raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything. "Gramps came back from Santiago, but he was confined to the hospital for a sudden fit."

"Well, then, please make sure you have an excuse letter next time," Ms. Hollis said. "Now get back to your seats, the two of you. And, sorry about your grandfather, Maya."

"Its cool." Maya said as she and Riley went to their seats.

"I thought your Gramps was in Texas until next summer," Riley frowned.

"He is." Maya said.

"Then why did you say- oh, you know what? Never mind," They both sank in their seats, taking out a notebook and a pen. As she watched Ms. Hollis teach, Riley noticed a silver ring on her middle finger. "An engagement ring?"

"What?"

"On Ms. Hollis; Look," Riley whispered.

"Hmm. No surprise for me there." She said, going back on her doodling. Riley gaped at her.

"No surprise? What do you mean? This is amazing! And romantic!"

"Yeah, but I figured it out ages ago, pumpkin."

"Who do you think it is, then?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Maya smirked. At Riley's confused look, Maya sighed. "Riles, who do you know is A, broody and dark and beautiful, and B, always clings to Ms. Hollis like a second skin when she's out of school?"

"Carmilla?" Riley said. "I didn't know two girls can marry."

"Some places allow it," Maya said. "Dunno if they do here, but if they don't, well, they can always elope or something."

"Elope?"

"Excuse me, Ms. Hart, Ms. Matthews," Ms. Hollis called out. "Do you two have something to say?"

"Ahh, n-no, Ma'am," Riley stuttered, blushing. She'd been caught talking in class! How embarrassing, she thought.

"Actually, we do," Riley gave Maya a _what the heck are you doing?_ look but Maya brushed it off. "Congrats on the ring, Ms. Hollis," She smirked.

Ms. Hollis blushed before continuing the lesson on the colour wheel.

 **~ 12:10 AM ~**

"What are you gonna do once you see Brianna?"

"I'll beat her to a pulp," Maya firmly said.

"What! Maya, violence isn't always the answer!"

"Yeah, but sometimes you gotta fight fire with fire, especially if your enemy is a five-foot jerk."

"Don't let Brianna catch you saying that."

"And if she does catch me saying that about her, what's she gonna do? Shove me into a stack of books? I can't be easily pushed around, Riley, you know that."

Riley blushed. "Don't rub it in."

"What? Not my fault if I find it a bit funny," Maya said. "Actually, it _is_ kinda hilarious, y'know, that a big book was the one that finally got li'l ol' you." She grinned.

Riley groaned. "You're insufferable."

"Yeah, but you love it."

"Don't rub it in."

 **~ 3:30 AM ~**

Riley and Maya were leaning their backs to the trunk of a tree on the school lawn, enjoying the cool shade and watching other kids interact. School was finished, but Maya and Riley decided to hang out under their tree before heading home. Riley was enjoying the extra peanut butter and jelly sandwich her Mom packed for her while Maya doodled. It was a peaceful and relaxing routine; to Riley, this was the only thing that kept her sane in the madness that was school. She was sure it was the same for Maya.

"Something on my face, Riley?" Maya asked. Riley blushed, not realising she was staring.

"No," She said. She looked away, a particular someone catching her attention. She stiffened, hoping that person wouldn't notice her.

"Riley!" She groaned. Looks like the person did.

Beside her, Maya frowned. "Who's that?"

"Hi, Riley!" Laura giggled, bouncing on the heels of her feet. "What's up?"

Riley groaned again. Maya, however, was scowling at Laura. "Riley, if this pint-sized runt is the one that shoved you into a bookcase, I swear to God I'm-"

"God, no," Riley said. Maya really could be dumb sometimes. "She's just…"

"A friend!" Laura said, eyes twinkling.

"A friend?" Maya raised an eyebrow. "Riles, why didn't you tell me this? What's your name, peewee?"

"Laura," Laura said. "And you're - ?"

"Riley's _best friend_ ," Maya scowled, putting emphasis on the words _best friend_. Laura didn't seem to flinch at the scowl, though, and Riley thought either she was incredibly brave or incredibly stupid. Maybe both, she mused. "What's your business here?"

"Well, I just wanted to see if Riley wanted me to paint her nails like I did to her yesterday."

"What?!" Maya snapped. "Riley, we've known each other since kindergarten, and you've known this- this _schmo-_ _"_

" _Hey!_ _"_

"-far much shorter than we've known each other, and you already let her paint your nails? Riley, you wouldn't even let me do yours," Maya had a betrayed, disbelieving look on her face that had Riley feeling guilty.

"Nothing personal, Maya," Riley said. "Laura here offered to give me a makeover and I just decided to, y'know, humour her, or something."

"Well, go and humour her now, why don't you," Maya said sarcastically.

" _What is wrong with you?_ " Riley exploded.

"I could ask you the same, Riley," Maya retorted. "You get bullied and take a while to open up to me about what happened, then suddenly someone comes and acts like you two are best buddies! Without my knowledge!"

"I can have other best friends too, you know!"

"But not without my _permission!_ "

" _What?!_ Do you hear how ridiculous you sound right now, Maya? You sound like a freaking _parent!_ You're not the boss of me! Stop being overprotective!"

"I'm not being overprotective! I'm just looking out for my best friend!"

"You are being overprotective! You can't make me go five feet without you breathing behind my back, sending death glares to every person who just so much _looks_ at me!"

"I just want to _protect_ you!"

"You can do that without going hung ho on everybody who interacts with me! I also need space, Maya! And sometimes I do that with _other_ friends!"

Maya froze. Then, stiffly, she said, "Of course. I shouldn't have been too much, Riley. I should have given you space; now you can have all the space you want. You can hang out with other people like _her-_ _"_ She gestured to Laura. "and I'm not going to be a bother anymore. You won't have to worry about me breathing down your back or fending off the jerks who annoy you. You can have all the other adventures you want, with _other friends,_ without me." She stood up, closing her sketchpad and gathering her pencils. "Goodbye, Riley," She said, and started to walk away.

Riley didn't realize the gravity of what she said until Maya was at the foot of the school's entryway. "Maya! No! Wait!"

"Good luck, Riley," Maya called out. Then she was gone.

"Maya! Come back!" Riley ran back into the school. She fought her way through the crowd of middle schoolers, trying to catch a sight of long, curly blonde hair, but it was seemingly _everywhere._ Why did most people have to be blondes?

 _There!_ She caught sight of Maya's hair and her tweed jacket.

"Maya!" Following the brown tweed jacket into the parking lot, Riley slowed down and looked around but wasn't able to see Maya. She simply vanished!

"Maya," Riley choked, holding back tears. "Maya, Maya, oh God, I'm so so sorry." She sobbed.

But Maya didn't come back.


	3. I'm Not Okay (I Promise)

**Thank you very, very much to all those people who follow, favourite, and/or comment on this story, and even those who just read this; It makes a guy's day. Stay awesome y'all.**

 **Just a little something that shows what happens to Maya and Riley after their argument in the last chapter. This chapter is Maya-centric, with some Farkle/Maya at the end. Enjoy.**

 **~ 4:15 PM in the afternoon ~**

 _SLAM!_

Cory looked around. Riley had just entered the house, seemingly fuming, but what caught Cory's attention were the tears that were streaming down her face.

"Hey kiddo," Riley didn't acknowledge him. Instead she just flopped down on the sofa, arms crossed. "What happened in school?"

Riley didn't answer; She just glared pointedly at the blank TV.

Sighing, Cory put the potatoes in a bowl before washing his hands and walking over to where Riley was. "Yes, or no, do I have to call someone's father?"

Riley was silent for a few minutes with Cory standing beside her, arms crossed as well. Then she said, "I don't think you need to."

"What happened in school, Riley?"

"Maya," She sighed.

Cory frowned. "Maya happened?"

Riley gritted her teeth. "We had a fight, and she ran off."

"That doesn't sound like something Maya would do." Cory mused. He thought for a moment. "Actually, that sounds like something _you_ _'_ _d_ do."

Riley glared at him. "Not helping!"

"What did you guys argue about that left you two like this, anyway?" Cory asked. He sat down on the sofa beside Riley, who went back to glaring at the TV.

"I said some things that rubbed off on her the wrong way," She whispered after a while. "I told her to stop being overprotective of me and to stop following me like a shadow 'cause it's getting tiring. She got hurt, I guess, and then she ran off."

"It's not your fault, Riley," Cory soothed. "You were being honest."

"Yeah, but my best friend hates me now." She sniffled. "I'd do anything to go back in time and shut up old me just to have Maya talking to me again."

"Hey, sometimes, it helps to talk," Cory told his daughter. "You and Maya may not know it now, but what you just told Maya would actually help you two in your friendship. You know why? Because you're right, Riley; You two are best friends, but sometimes, you just got to let the other have some space for themselves, right?" He wrapped an arm around Riley and hugged her. Riley didn't sob; instead, tears just silently trickled down her face, soaking Cory's Mets t-shirt, who didn't mind.

"It'll be alright, Riley," Cory whispered. "You just need to give each other some time."

Riley nodded, but she didn't say anything.

 **~ Somewhere far from Riley's apartment, near the school ~**

"Ugh!" Maya screamed. The bus stop was empty, so nobody could be around to care if she screamed her lungs out, which was probably a positive.

The negative? The people were gone, which meant that the last bus that passes the route near her house had already gone by. She had missed her ride home.

"Why do these things happen to me?!" She seethed, already thinking of a way back home. She could walk, of course, but it _was_ a pretty long journey, and she had walked like, what, twenty-something yards from school? She was _exhausted._

Maya sighed and sat down at the edge of the sidewalk to rest. Checking her watch, she saw that it was already four forty-five in the afternoon, which meant that there wasn't really anybody out here to bother her. Maybe it was the only benefit of choosing not to ride the school bus home and opt to ride the regular bus instead; She couldn't bear to ride the school bus knowing that _she_ rides that bus home all the time. She couldn't do it now. She couldn't be with _her_ now.

 _Her_ being Riley Matthews, Maya's best-friend extraordinaire since kindergarten. Maya guessed she couldn't blame Riley for wanting a little space; after all, space is also what Maya craved from people sometimes no matter who they were. Heck, there were times when she found herself wanting to be alone from Riley on some days. She just didn't realise that she was being a burden to her best friend in that way; Riley was, well, she was Maya's only best friend, maybe her _only_ friend. And since Maya loved her, she would respect her wishes - even if it mean ( _ugh)_ Riley hanging out with people like that Laura girl. Anything for her best friend if it would make her happy, right? After all, this friendship was too precious to mess up.

No, who was she kidding?! She wants space? Fine! But she'd be damned if she let Riley away that easily, because Maya Hart gets what she wants when she thinks it's the best, and Riley isn't just some second-rate friend, no; she's _the_ best friend Maya's ever had. So even if going around school these coming days without Riley would feel like pulling teeth without painkillers Maya would still do it, but she wouldn't let Riley forget that she's doing this for her because she loves her, not because she realised that she's being a tad too clingy and decided to back off before it felt weird. It would never be like that.

Standing up, Maya discarded her candy wrapper at a nearby trash can and stretched. Her water jug was almost empty, so she decided to save it for the journey ahead; She also had two candy bars left in her pocket just in case so she wouldn't get hungry along the way. Sighing, Maya slung her backpack over her shoulder and started to walk.

 **~ A few blocks away from where Maya is ~**

"Farkle, are you sure you don't want to use the Leaper going home?"

"I'm sure, Dad," Farkle sighed. "Honestly, its better to use a car going home than to teleport and land somewhere unplanned; I mean, do you remember the time we ended up in Siberia?"

"That was one mistake! _One!_ _"_ Mr. Minkus stressed. "Honestly, my teleportation machine is now improved! No more major detours when teleporting! Believe me, son, I've tried."

"I'll stick with riding the car." Farkle replied, walking over to where a limo was parked right in the parking lot of some abandoned building.

"Okay then, Farkle boy. Just be careful, okay?" Mr. Minkus walked over to his son and hugged him. "I love you."

"I love you, too, Dad." Fakle said. He watched as Mr. Minkus stepped back into a wide metal ring that resembled a hula hoop and waved. Mr. Minkus pressed a button hidden up his sleeve and he and the ring shimmered before they disappeared.

"Alright, Edwards," Said Farkle as he went inside the limo. "Let's go home."

 **~ Two blocks from Farkle's current location ~**

The convenience store was only about three blocks from Maya's house, but she was tempted to stop by and buy a bottle of water to replenish her long-gone jug of water. She also needed to rest since her feet had started to ache, and so here she was now, sitting outside the convenience store and watching the sun set.

It was beautiful, Maya mused; the blending of colours never failed to calm her nerves at the end of any day. It was a mesmerising sight, and it made Maya suddenly eager to go home so she can grab a big piece of paper and draw the sun sinking below the horizon surrounded by a pool of vibrant colours. She only walked a few yards before she heard a voice calling out her name:

"Maya! Maya, over here!"

Grumbling, Maya craned her head over to the source of the noise. "Oh, it's you."

"Fancy meeting you here, pretty lady," Farkle grinned from his seat at the limo. "What brings you here?"

"Can't a girl walk by a convenience store without having a flirt breathe down her neck at that?"

"Of course, but… I mean, what are you doing? Here?"

Maya rolled her eyes. Seriously, this Minkus kid was _weird._ Like, stalker much? "Buying stuff."

"Oh. Okay."

An awkward silence followed.

A minute later Maya cleared her throat. "So, I'll just mosey on-"

"No! Wait." Maya raised an eyebrow at Farkle's tone. "I was wondering if you could, y'know, ride with me." His eyes widened. "I mean, here, in the limo, but it's okay if you don't want, I mean, you can sit up front-"

"You are _so_ weird." Maya gave the limo a once-over. "But my house is just like three blocks away from this place, so I can walk."

"Are you sure? It gets pretty scary out here when its dark." Maya raised an eyebrow again. "I'm just looking out for you, y'know, with you being pretty and all-" Farkle clamped his mouth with his hands after realising what he said. "I mean, you really _are_ pretty, Maya, it's not like I have a crush on you or something, psh, noooo." Farkle said, but Maya didn't believe a word of it.

"Your point?"

Farkle gestured to the limo. "I was wondering if you'd like to hitch a ride with me going home."

Maya gave it a thought. It would only take her what, thirty minutes? Before she reached her house, but like what Farkle said, it _was_ getting dark, and Maya didn't want to be the body found in the back of some alley early next morning. This Minkus kid, weird as he is, seemed pretty harmless. And she _did_ know how to punch her way out in case something happened (not that she was worried about something happening to her with the Minkus kid; he probably wouldn't even know how to throw a punch). Plus, he had a limo. She supposed it was time to give her aching feet a rest.

"Fine," She said after a while. "But I take shotgun."

"You got it!" Farkle hopped out the passenger seat and held open the door for her. "This way, m'lady!"

Maya punched him in the arm and went inside.

The limo was like the limo Maya would always see in the movies. Nothing special about it; Same white interior, leather seats, carbon fibre compartments and the like. She kicked back and grabbed a soda from her backpack, taking a lengthy sip and sighing.

"Edwards, let's take this fine girl home." Farkle told the driver. "She lives at the corner of Maple and Elm."

Maya slightly frowned. "You know where I live?"

"I may have seen you around there when I took my jet-powered bike for a spin." Farkle said sheepishly.

Maya slowly nodded. "Oooooo-kay." She turned back to the front. "Shutting up now."

The drive home was silent. There was no radio on, but Maya could make out a few _beeps_ and _dings_ and other sound effects from Farkle's built-in Xbox, which she wouldn't admit out loud but yeah that was pretty cool. Briefly Maya wondered what it would be like to be rich or smart like the Minkus family, but she decided it was a pretty unrealistic thing to dream of.

Sighing, Maya resorted to looking at the sights they passed by. There was an old park a few streets past the convenience store that had a few asphalt ramps for skateboarding, as well as a rough trail of dirt for those bikers who were bored by the lush grass fields scattered around the block. Beyond that was a playground, complete with playground equipment and a basketball area and a soccer net. There were many kids her age playing around the area laughing and talking. There was a small pang in Maya's chest as she thought of what she and Riley would be doing had the argument between them hadn't happened.

So it was quite a rash thing to do, walking away from Riley and Laura after hearing Riley say that she'd like to have some space for a while. So what? Best friends were entitled to feelings, too, especially when your other best friend suddenly has another friend in their life acting like it's their business to be like best chums with said other without telling you, so she had the right to be hurt. But maybe not enough that she'd run away. That much she already realized.

Maybe running away wasn't an option. Maybe it was a habit, something Maya would do when she didn't want to face the music. She's been running away from things her whole life: away from late night arguments with her parents, away from judgemental stares from other people, away from sympathetic old people, away from things she should've woman upped to and faced. Running away was comforting to do, like second nature, but she knew she couldn't do that in certain situations such as friendship.

And that's why Maya loved Riley; she didn't make her feel pressured. She didn't make her feel afraid of things she was afraid of before or feel the need to run away. She was there for her, and Maya, too, was there for Riley. She'd do anything to keep this treasure of a friendship, but she knew she needed to think, too, or else everything could be ruined, and that would be the most devastating thing that could happen to Maya.

"Miss? We're here," The driver said. Maya looked up and saw that they were in from of her apartment building.

"Thanks," She told the driver and Farkle. She got out and started to climb the stairs leading to the building entrance when Farkle's window rolled down.

"Maya?" He called. "If you ever need another friend, or even just someone to talk to, I'm always here. Okay?"

Maya nodded, not quite knowing how to respond, as she watched the limo drive away.

* * *

 **A/N: I'll be updating about every five days since school's already started. There should be about four or five chapters in this little story of mine. Hope you're liking it so far! Comments are always appreciated y'know.**

 **Fun fact (if you already didn't know): The bully here, Brianna, is the same Brianna mentioned in my first fic The Bully, Maya Hart and Her Pumpkin. This fic isn't a prequel or a sequel to that story, but it** _ **is**_ **set in the same universe as that story, Why Do You Have to Be Like This?, Girl Meets Special Someone, and Fort Rilaya.**


	4. Misery Business

**What happens when you were supposed to do an** _ **early**_ **update but your story file was mysteriously deleted, then you get three nights of watching your little cousin while you also have a mountain pile of homework and essays all due the day after they're given? You guys get a pretty late update on the fic. Sorry 'bout that.**

 **Also, I apologize if you guys think the previous chapter wasn't much. There'll be a bit more that's happening here in the next chapter (more about that at the end of this chapter), I promise. Besides, it's the thought behind the chapter that counts, right? Right. Now let's move on…**

* * *

Surprisingly, the following days passed by without any incident happening. Brianna hadn't been in school for a week beginning the day she and Riley had that argument under their 'special' tree; word was she had cold sores, but Maya didn't believe a word of it. She sensed something fishy was going on but it wasn't her business to snoop; Instead, she'd just spy on things from a distance.

Just because she and Riley weren't hanging out with each other didn't mean she'd stop looking out for her.

"I don't get it," Riley sighed. "Maya's been avoiding me like I have the plague. What's up with her?"

"Well, you did say you wanted space." Cory told her from the sofa. "Isn't that what you wanted to happen?"

Riley frowned, popping a meatball into her mouth. "I said I'd like it if she wasn't so clingy to me all the time, but that didn't mean I wanted her to stop hanging out with me."

"Sweetie, think about it," Topanga said as she put the rest of the meatballs into the sauce. "You told Maya that you'd like to hang out with other friends. You also told her to stop hanging off of your back like an old scarf. If that's your idea of space, I'm not gonna be able do anything about it- but Maya's always been one to respect the wishes of people she loves dearly. So maybe she took you seriously on what you said even though you didn't really mean it that way. Makes sense?"

"I guess so." Riley glumly said. "Gosh, I miss her already. It's been a week since I last talked to her."

"Then talk to her already!" Cory gave an exasperated sigh. "Acting like you two barely know each other would get nothing accomplished at all, Riley. To be honest, you two bicker like a married couple-"

"Cory," Topanga warned. "We are not talking about this again."

"All I'm saying is that with the way you two are acting you'd be straining your friendship more than it already is wether you want it or not." Cory stood up. "So you two better get your act together if you really want to fix this thing."

"Yeah, I got that much," Riley sighed. The question was: How was she going to do that?

* * *

"Farkle. Farkle!"

Farkle turned around. "Maya? What are you doing there?"

"Organising a party," Maya rolled her eyes. "What does it look like I'm doing? Help me outta here."

Sighing, Farkle clambered up a stack of boxes and grabbed Maya's hands. With a mighty pull, he got her out of the garbage bin, but he lost his balance and the two of them ended up in a heap on the disgusting alley floor.

"Um… Hi," Farkle said, a little breathless.

Maya huffed. "You annoying flirt," She stood up, flicking off the pieces of garbage and whatnot clinging to her clothes and hair.

"Yeah, yeah, you're welcome, too." Farkle said. "What were you doing in that garbage bin?"

"What were you doing in this alleyway?"

"I asked you first," Farkle sighed. "But if you must know, I was looking for a mechanical dog that ran away from me when I was giving it a test run. You wouldn't have seen it pass by, have you?"

"Nope."

Farkle raised an eyebrow, expecting Maya to answer his first question, but she didn't do anything but continue to remove the filth from her jacket and glare back.

"What?"

"Nothing." Farkle sighed and turned around, starting to walk back the way he came from. "Well, nice seeing you, Maya."

He was almost out the alley before he heard footsteps running up to him and a voice call out, "Wait!"

* * *

"I'm not trying to be annoying or anything," Laura drawled for the tenth time the next day at school, "but are you sure you're okay?"

"Of course I am!" Riley flinched at how disbelieving her tone was. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, you wouldn't look at me when we talk," Laura said. "You also keep glancing around nervously like someone's gonna jump us at any moment. And, you won't stop looking at Maya and-" She scrunched her nose in thought before adding, "-that Minkus kid over there."

Riley raised her eyebrows. Was she that obvious?

"Yeah," Laura said as if reading her thoughts. "I'm not a ditz all the time, y'know."

"I didn't say that," Riley assured her. "It's just that…" She trailed off, not quite knowing how to explain to Laura her situation.

"You and Maya had a fight. I know, I was there." She sighed, giving a disinterested look at her half-eaten apple. "Riley, I don't want to be the reason you break up with your best friend-"

"No." Riley told her. "No, you aren't-"

"I will be soon if you don't start being friends with her again." Laura said. "Riley, you two have been BFFs since I first saw you in first grade. It isn't time for something to come mess it up, and it would really suck if you or Maya or me were the ones that messed this up."

Riley sighed. She's had this talk before; she wasn't eager on having it again, and so soon after the last one.

"Riley, who are you more happy with?" Laura asked her. "Me, or Maya?"

Riley was taken aback. Well, she wasn't expecting that. "What do you-"

"The truth, Riley."

Riley sighed. No escaping this now. "Maya," She said. "But, it's not like you're a bad friend! I mean, you're cool and all, but-"

"I get it," Laura sighed. "I'm not Maya, Riley, I get that. But you should never, ever, ever use people as distractions. Sometimes, you gotta face the music, wether you like it or not. And when it comes to a friendship like the one you two have? Well, let's just say I'd kill to have something as great as that."

Riley's insides seemingly deflated. Despite hating Laura for sounding like her parents, she knew she was right; She couldn't make this go worse than it already is.

"I just don't know what to do," She admitted. "I'm scared Maya'll run away again. I mean, she takes some stuff way too seriously sometimes, and I don't wanna mess this up again, because what I say something stupid? She might think I'm crazy and she'll finally be best friends with someone else permanently after that, or-"

"Hey, hey, hey. Clam down," Laura soothed. "I'll help you with this if you need me to, because you seriously cannot mess this up. Okay?"

Riley nodded slowly. "Thank you," She told Laura. "Really, I mean it."

"Hey, that's what friends are for." Sighing, Laura put the apple down. "So, are you gonna eat that sandwich or not?"

* * *

"Wait, so you're saying…"

"I've gotta do something about Brianna, Farkle." Maya said. "Seriously, she is getting out of hand."

"And you think it's your responsibility to do something about it?"

"Why not? Nobody's doing anything about it; not Donnie, not Jake, not Clarisse or Cassie, no one is. Everybody's scared of her, and I gotta do something about it before something worse happens."

Farkle sighed. "For all we know, you'd just be giving yourself a death wish."

"I don't care." Maya said. "I'm still doing what I gotta do."

Slumping back in his chair, Farkle stared at the blonde in front of him. It was easy to see why he had a crush on her; She was sassy and at times borderline rude, but her heart was more or less always in the right place. He didn't care about wether someone was in the Top 10 of the class or not; He liked good people more. And in Maya's case, he didn't even mind a little attitude.

"Fine," He finally said. "But if you die or something, you're not pinning the blame on me."

Maya's lips had a ghost of a smile. "Fair enough."

A comfortable silence fell between the two of them after that. It was recess time and they ate outside the school cafeteria, just right near the field where the older kids would hold ridiculous pull-up contests by the monkey bars. It wasn't too hot, but Maya was already wearing her tweed jacket.

Maya. A few weeks ago, if someone told Farkle that he'd be friends with his crush since first grade, he would've laughed at them. After weeks of casual talk (in Farkle's part) Maya only opened up to him after helping her out of the garbage dump she was oh-so-unceremoniously dumped in by Brianna, and even then, she was still reserved on some parts.

Maya was out of his league, he knew that. She was the kind of person people would either love or hate, and even then you'd have to be in a long line to get to her good graces. Only very few people have cracked Maya's walls and become good friends with her, and one of those people was Riley Matthews. Farkle knew he'd have a slim chance of being friends with her the way she and Riley are, but he was willing to try, even if he had to help Maya out a garbage bin again for her to open up to him; It was because he knew that Maya would be a good friend for him and vice versa.

"Farkle," Maya said. "Can I tell you something?"

Farkle leaned forward, curious. "I'm all ears, girl."

Maya rolled her eyes. "I, um… I, well, you see, I have this problem, and I don't know how to fix it."

"Okay…" Farkle was already interested in what she had to say; problems were his specialty.

"I'm afraid she'll turn me down if I say sorry." Maya sighed, biting her lip.

"Wait, she? As in, a girl?"

Maya glared at him. "For a genius, you sure catch on slow sometimes."

"Sorry, it's just… who is this 'she' anyway?"

Maya didn't say anything; instead she looked around until her eyes landed on someone. Farkle followed her gaze and saw what she was looking at.

"Oh."

"Yeah…"

"So your problem is, you want to say sorry to her but you're afraid of rejection, right?"

Maya nodded. Farkle snuck another look at the girl Maya was looking at; what was her name again? Ray? Rilaya? No, Riley. There we go.

He didn't get it though; she looked like a harmless puppy, all innocent eyes and wide smiles that promised world peace or harmony or something along those lines. He couldn't see why Maya was afraid of a reaction like that from someone like her.

Unless, of course, he had an explanation detailing what had happened that it reached this in the first place.

So he asked, and Maya told him. She told him what had happened, how she felt, what she thought of the entire situation; how she thought it was selfish of Riley to say something like that, but how stupid in turn Maya's reaction to the whole thing was. She told him how she shouldn't have been so clingy in the first place, and how Riley should have been more open. She told him all her doubts and fears and insecurities on the whole thing until Farkle had to tell Maya to stop because he was sure that if she didn't she'd break down in tears on the school yard at nine in the morning.

"You know you'll have to talk to her, right?" Farkle said.

"I know," Maya said. "But why does it have to be so hard?"

"Hey, it wouldn't mean a thing if it was easy," Farkle told her. "But it would be better for you to get this over with, Maya. I mean, have you seen you? You're not the cool, badass-" he ignored the look a passing teacher shot at them, "-Maya I'm used to seeing,"

"So you're saying that I'm a sap?" Maya sighed. "Ugh, I hate myself."

"No, you're human, and we all make mistakes. But we need to correct them, too, before it messes up our lives, alright?" Farkle put an awkward arm around her shoulder. "I'll be here, if you ever need me."

"Thanks, Farkle," Maya said, a bit of her usual snark now back. "You know, you're not a pretty bad human yourself; Keep that up and you might be my friend." She grinned.

Farkle smiled, because yeah, this moment he's having with Maya? He knows he's lucky to be part of it even if it might be the only one he'll have. But for now he's gonna enjoy the moment.

He doesn't see the pointed look Riley gives them from her spot in the canteen, aware of the moment she sees them share.

* * *

It takes three more days of promises and assurances and threats from Laura and Farkle before Maya and Riley decide to woman up. But even then its Maya who does the first move, not Riley.

They're in Math class one Tuesday afternoon. Maya gave up listening to teacher long ago; something about fractions and decimals made her head spin in an unpleasant way. There was only so much math the head of a third-grader like her could take. Farkle should have notes she could copy from later, anyway.

Riley sat two rows ahead of Maya. She should've been really mad at her because she paid rapt attention to the lecture, which she never does (she also sat two rows ahead of where she usually sat, so), and Maya was determined to finally do what she had to do to remove this obstacle in their friendship she was told she started.

"But I have limits," Maya told Farkle the other day. "I only apologise once."

Farkle groaned and buried his head in the pile of notebooks in front of him. "God, you are so insufferable."

Maya tried to ignore the pang in her chest when she heard those words because it made her miss Riley more.

"Riley," Maya whispered to the brunette when the professor's back was turned. "Riley. Riley!"

She's affronted when Riley doesn't turn her attention to her, because come on, who would be so interested in watching their professor erase numbers on the blackboard?

Sighing, she tears a page off her notebook and hastily scribbles wanna hang out later and talk? on the paper before folding it into a paper plane and flying it at Riley's head. Maya let out a breath she didn't now she was holding as the plane hits its mark.

Riley looked surprised for a moment before taking notice of the plane. Folding it carefully and silently under her desk to avoid being spotted by the professor, her she frowned as she read Maya's note. She grabbed a pen and started writing beside the spot where Maya wrote.

She's writing back, she writing back! Maya thought excitedly. She tried not to jump as she caught the plane in her hands. She grinned, only to be replaced by a frown and a gasp as she read what Riley wrote back.

 _You should listen to the teacher and stop being so childish while we're in class._

Well! And to top it all off, Riley didn't make any acknowledgement whatsoever to Maya's oh-so-gracious offer to hang out. What the hell?!

Deciding that passing notes was not the way to get Miss Goody Two-Shoes' attention, Maya waited until the professor's back was turned to them before she tiptoed out of her seat and sent a death glare to the kid sitting behind Riley to get him to switch seats with her silently.

Riley jumped a little when she felt a tap at her shoulder. She glanced around to see Maya smirking at her from behind. "Maya? What the hell?"

"Ooh, you're cursing already? Maybe Laura isn't so ditzy as I thought so after all," Maya's smirk grew wider.

"Seriously? If you're hear just to make snide comments about my grammar or about Laura, then just leave."

Riley's tone sent Maya back to reality. She shook her head slightly as if she just awoke from a daze before taking a deep breath. "Okay. Fine. Riley, I know I messed up, but I was thinking- well, more like I was forced to, then I thought 'it's not so bad after all', y'know, to-to-"

Riley raised an eyebrow. A stuttering Maya was rare to see. It only happened when she was flustered, scared or nervous, but she was betting more on the latter. It was hard to not find it cute, like a helpless puppy thing, so Riley was thankful to Jesus or God or whoever was up there that she didn't lose her cool, stoic façade; but she could already feel it slipping. "What? Get to the point, Hart, I don't have all day," she whispered demandingly.

"Right," Maya cleared her throat. "Riley, I really, really want to make up for what I did. It was stupid for me to act like that, and, well, I really hope you'd take me up on my offer to hang out later so I can just-"

"Miss Hart!" the professor called out. "What are you doing there?"

The two girls jumped in surprise at the professor's loud voice. "Sir, I-"

"Out! Back to your seat!" he scolded. "Detention after school! _Verstehst du mich_?"

"Yes sir," Maya said glumly. Great. Now she had detention, and she just made a fool of herself in front of the class without even managing to convince Riley to let her make up for her mistake.

"The soda shop 'round the corner, right after your detention," Riley whispered to her before she stood up.

Or maybe she was able to convince her after all.

The wide grin never left Maya's face all the way 'til after detention.

* * *

Maya sighed when the minute hand hit 6. Finally, she mused. She never thought four-thirty could come by as slow as it did. She was the only one in detention, and it was horribly boring to go through an afternoon of it alone with her homework and an old lady who looked and smelled like she lived through the Middle Ages herself. (Not that she knows, of course; she just assumed people who lived during that time smelled like sweat-drenched gym socks and urine. She thinks that that isn't far from the real thing.)

The grin she had earlier returned full-force to her face once she was out of the torture room. _Riley's told me to meet her at the soda shop after detention. She's gonna let me make it up to her!_

 _You are not messing this up, Hart. There's a friendship at stake here._

She poured all her books and notes and stuff into her locker before all but running to the soda shop to meet Riley. Her face fell slightly when she saw that Riley wasn't there yet; she shrugged it off and got a booth at the end of the store and ordered a vanilla soda for Riley and root beer for her.

After ten minutes, Maya started to worry. What if Riley's invitation was all a joke? No, she couldn't be that cruel. Or could she? Maybe she's been taking lessons from that Laura girl, she thought. No. That doesn't seem like something she'd do. Deciding that she was worrying over nothing and that Riley probably was late for some trivial reason (she didn't want to think about the possibility that she was hanging out with Laura instead, nooo thank you), she told herself to wait for a few more minutes.

But ten minutes became twenty. Then thirty. When it was almost an hour Maya couldn't take it anymore. She ran out the shop, tying to blink back tears. She stood up on me, she cried in her head, before inwardly flinching and deciding that it was a stupid thing to say; they weren't even dating, but it didn't make the pain bearable.

 _It was all a joke._

 _She hates me._

 _Hates us._

 _She won't forgive me anymore!_ at that thought, Maya slumped onto a park bench, not caring that people might watching, and let the tears fall silently. _Well done, Hart. You've officially messed up the only friendship you've ever had._

She was brought out of her brooding when her cellphone vibrated against her rib from its place in her jacket pocket. She ignored it at first, but the damn thing just kept on ringing and pulsing until she couldn't take it anymore.

She scanned the caller id; it was an unknown number. Frowning, she lifted the phone to her ear and pressed the green phone icon on the screen. "Hello?"

"Maya?" there was a quiet shuffling on the other end; Maya's frowned deepened. She recognised the voice as Farkle's.

"Farkle?" she asked. "What the heck is wrong, Minkus? And how'd you get my number?"

"That's the least of your worries now," he said, before sighing. "Maya, you… you have to come over by the Matthews' apartment. It's Riley. Something— something's happened to her."

* * *

 **;)**

 **We all knew this would happen. It was inevitable.**

 **All I'm gonna say is that there'll be a surprise twist of sorts next chap. (You'd either get amused, surprised or just plain pissed off.)**

 **PS. If you guys could, follow me in** **(link on my profile). I update there earlier than I update here in** **, and sometimes I post stuff there I don't post here.**

 **Stay awesome y'all.**


	5. We've Got A Big Mess On Our Hands

**I am so so so sorry for updating late here. Technical difficulties suck :( But I updated this story in AO3 earlier than I did here, so if you want, you guys should follow me there (thedrummerthatwrites).**

 ***proceeds to throw so many words everywhere***

* * *

"It isn't anything serious," the doctor said. "It's just a sprain on her arm; she should be able to go back to her normal activities in two weeks."

Cory breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank God." He turned to the general area of the apartment where Riley and Laura sat. "And do you mind telling me, young lady, why you decided to do stunts on the school bleachers with a mountain bike?"

Laura had the decency to look sheepish. "Sorry," she said. "But there was the bike, there was Kevin; how could I resist?"

"All to impress some silly boy crush," Cory muttered under his breath. "Thank you, Doctor." Cory and the doctor shook hands before the latter was escorted out of the apartment.

"Seriously?" Riley hissed once her father was out of earshot. "All for some stupid crush?"

"Hey now; Kevin's not stupid, and neither am I."

"You could have gotten yourself killed!"

"It was only a six-tier fall!"

"Still! You're lucky it was only a sprain!"

Laura sighed. "Alright, alright," She shifted slightly on the couch to make herself more comfortable. "I'm sorry for ever thinking about using a mountain bike to perform wheelies and one-eighties just to show off my awesome talents to my fourth grade crush, _Mom._ _"_

Riley huffed. "Whatever."

Laura smirked. The room fell silent again save for the barely audible sounds of talk coming from the front door.

"You're still to talking to her, aren't you?"

A glare was thrown at Laura. "I would've after school, had I not been walking across the football field when I saw you fall down the bleachers."

Laura raised her hands up in surrender. "Hey, I already said thank you. Where were you going to meet her anyway?" Riley sighed.

"Soda shoppe."

"And you're not going there now since she thinks you stood her up, huh?"

"You know me so well," Riley said sarcastically.

"Perks of being a wallflower to you two." She glanced around. "Hey, where's Farkle?"

"Playing around with my phone," Riley told her. "Something about a science experiment on gadgets or whatever."

"Huh."

Just then Cory came back, wiping his hands on his coat. "Laura, do your parents know you're here?"

"I think they would, sir, since I've been coming here after school for the past week or so."

Cory shrugged. "Good point, but I'll still call them just in case." He patted his pockets for his phone but he came up empty. "Hey, where's my phone?"

Riley shrugged indifferently. "It's with Farkle, dad."

"Not again," He went into the area of the rooms. "Farkle? Farkle?"

The two girls watched Cory disappear before Riley sighed. "Well, I guess its time for us to do our homework, don't you think?"

Laura groaned. "Do we have to? Isn't there, like, any consideration given to injured kids so they don't do homework?"

Riley smirked. "Well, there is, but only to kids who didn't do it _on purpose_ , consequences be damned."

Laura groaned again. "Well, I don't wanna—"

Just then the door slammed open and Maya ran in, phone clutched in hand, traces of tears visible on her face. "Riley?! Where's— Riley!" She tackled Riley in a bear hug. Laura squirmed, feeling uncomfortable and quite awkward at the situation.

"Um, uh… y'know, I think homework sounds good now. I'll just get the books from our bags, which is like, near the kitchen and it's way, way, _way_ back over there—" She grunted, fumbling for a bit before she hobbled to the bags. Riley and Maya didn't notice, both of them having gotten winded from the surprise hug.

"Maya." Riley gasped. "Oxygen."

"Shut up." Maya grunted against her shirt.

After a few more seconds, Riley pulled away from her blonde (ex?)best-friend and looked at her warily. "I know you didn't come here just to hug the breath out of me, so… talk."

"Right. Right." Maya took a deep breath before crushing Riley again. When she pulled away, she said, "I'm just happy you're not injured or anything, and… wait, you're not injured? Are you serious?" She poked and prodded Riley's arms and gave her a once-over.

"What are you talking about?"

"Farkle told me to come here, he said you were injured!" Maya hugged her again, which was a little out of the ordinary since Maya didn't hug her _this_ much in the span of two minutes, but hey, Riley wasn't gonna complain. "Don't _ever_ do that to me again, Matthews. For all I knew, you could've gotten hit by a car going home from school and that would've been the reason you _stood me up_ which I should bring up with you right now since I'm _so pissed_ you lead me on—"

"Whoa, wait, wait," Riley frowned. "Maya, I had to bring Laura here, you know that."

"Right," Maya gave a dry smile. "You couldn't just bring her to the nurse's office or something? You just decided to be the good samaritan and ignore the fact that you agreed to meet your _best friend_ after school to talk some things out?"

"Okay, first of all, she's my _friend,_ _"_ Riley said. "I'm glad you still think we're best friends but can't you at least try and _understand_ that I like to help people? If you have a problem about that, you can just tell me about it instead of sulking around and taking it all out on me at various times!"

"I do _not_ sulk!" Maya sulked. "And it's not that I have a problem with you being this- this _good person,_ it's just that…" She sighed. "I have a problem with you being this good person, because sometimes you don't even seem to care about the other things you're supposed to do, like earlier."

Riley raised an eyebrow. Maya's shoulders slump.

"I miss _us,_ Riley. I miss hugging you and walking with you to school and us having pillow fights and making fun of Professor Le Fanu because he has warts on his nose and his eyes look reptilian and," She took a breath. "I'm sorry for acting the way I did that day, Riley. I really am."

Riley gasped, slack-jawed. Maya was apologizing? "Who are you and what have you done with my best friend?"

Maya smacked her on the arm. "Shut up," she grumbled, but there was a hint of playfullness to her voice. "So… best friend, huh?"

"Of course, you dolt. I forgive you," Riley rolled her eyes. "If it helps, I realize I shouldn't have said things the way I did that day too. So, sorry."

"Well, that would certainly help me sleep better at night now, so yeah, it helps."

"Shut up," Riley grinned. "Dork."

"Nerd."

They just stood looking at each other for a few more minutes 'til Maya cleared her throat. "Awkward."

Riley laughed. "Ice cream?" She suddenly turned serious. "Y'know, to make up for earlier."

"How can I say no to a celebratory feast?" Maya replied. "Um, can I give you a hug?"

"You don't have to ask me, you know," Riley told her.

"I know, but just humor me." They hugged before Maya pulled away and led them to the door.

"Wait, hold on."

"What?"

"I need to tell my Dad," Riley started to run where the rooms were but Cory reentered the living room before she could do so, making it easier to ask permission from her dad that she was going out with Maya to the ice cream shoppe.

"It's alright, Riley. Go." He smiled. Riley squealed and hugged him. "Just be careful, yeah?" He faced Maya. "Hart, I swear to God, if my daughter gets hurt, I'll—"

"Got it, Mr. Matthews," Maya said. She pulled Riley's arm and rushed out the apartment.

"Geez, pumpkin, is your dad on his period or something?" Maya asked once they were on the streets, arm in arm.

Riley chuckled. "That's gross, Maya!" She pulled herself closer. "He's just concerned, that's all."

Maya just hummed. They were silent for a while, looking at the sights of the park around them, their steps echoing on the stone floor. When they reached the ice cream shop, Maya turned to her.

"Oh, I also bought drinks for the both of us earlier in the soda shoppe but you didn't come, so you owe me eight dollars for that, Matthews."

* * *

"Rough morning?"

"Don't I know it," Maya grumbled. She stuffed Riley's iPod (which was full of annoying, cheerful, pop radio hits, save for an old Fall Out Boy song) in her bag as the teacher walked into class, then pulled out a notebook and started to doodle. Riley gave her a sympathetic shake of the head - losing the ten dollars she was owed was nothing to be happy about - and brought her attention to her teacher, who noticed that Maya wasn't listening to him, as usual.

"Miss Hart," the teacher called. "Miss Hart! When did the Emancipation Proclamation go into effect?"

"January 1, 1863." Maya answered quickly without looking up from her sketch. Everybody, especially the teacher, were surprised to see that Maya was able to remember the answer since it was evident that she didn't listen to the lectures in class. Maya just smirked.

Needless to say, she wasn't bothered again during the rest of the period.

* * *

The rest of the morning passed by in a blur, and before they knew it, it was lunch time.

The cafeteria was packed; apparently the high school had a football game today, and many people were crowding whatever available 'resources' there was for ice packs, energy drinks and cold cuts.

"They don't even eat here," Maya grumbled as she plopped down on the seat of a thankfully vacant lunch table. "They just take advantage of whatever they can get their hands on!"

"Actually, I see a group of ninth-graders over there that look like they're eating," Riley pointed to a corner of the room. Maya looked over and rolled her eyes.

"They're not eating, they're just hogging the chairs and tables to gossip."

"Oh."

"See?" Smirking, she sprinkled some Tabasco on her tuna melt before taking a huge bite, moaning in delight as she did so. Riley gave her a weird look. "What?"

"You just— then you— and— you know what? Never mind." Riley said, nibbled on a forkful of her mac and cheese. "How can you eat that? I mean, the tabasco on tuna thing? Wouldn't you get an upset stomach or something?"

"If I answered you I'd lose my air of mystery, wouldn't I?"

"Oh, come on," Riley scoffed. "You're the least mysterious person to me, Hart. Don't even try to deny it."

Maya just hummed in response.

The two of them were in their own bubble of comfortable silence for a while as they looked on at the noisy crowd in the elementary cafeteria.

Suddenly Maya asked, "How's *insert name of daredevil biker here*?"

Riley frowned. "Laura? She's on her way here now, why don't you ask her yourself?"

True enough, Laura was on her way to their table, walking like she owned the place (and being able to pull it off, actually, despite the awkwardness to her image that is her broken arm) with a smug smirk that made Maya have the sudden urge to punch it off her freckled face. Along with her, hobbling like a some sort of servant with two trays of food, was— _Farkle?_

Maya raised an eyebrow. "Annoying blondie."

"Hart." Laura leered. The two of them still weren't close friends, but they loved to annoy each other like two archenemies on a mission.

"Hey, little hottie," Farkle said. Maya shot up her seat and grabbed Farkle by the collar, intending to drag him away from the table to a shaded corner of the canteen. "What the—?! Ow! Please don't kill me!" He whimpered.

"Come on, Farkle. Let's you and I have a… _talk._ _"_ She looked back to Riley. "Be back soon." With that, the two of them made their way through the throng of students, where Farkle's pleads could still be heard.

"What was that about?" Laura asked once she was able to sit.

Riley shrugged. It's only been a minute, but she was already getting worried about Farkle. "I really don't know. I hope he's okay."

"Well, knowing Hart, we should be looking for his body any hour now." Her smirk didn't drop at Riley's glare. "What? It's true. Elvira can be one heckuva force to reckon with when's she's angry."

Riley sighed. She supposed it was true. Looking up, she saw Maya heading back to them with _no Farkle_ with her.

"What just happened?" She demanded. Maya shrugged.

"Stuff." She huffed at Riley's glare. "Ugh. I _might_ told him 'thanks' for lying to me to get me to your apartment that fast yesterday."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, we've made up, haven't we? He's been bugging me to do so for like, a week before we said sorry to each other." She shrugged.

Riley and Laura gaped at her. Maya Hart saying _thank you_ to someone who tricked her instead of hurting them? What's next? People who talked to squirrels?

Smirking, Maya added, "I also might have threatened to decapitate him with the switchblade I keep in my backpack if he does something like that again."

Riley groaned. Laura frowned. "Where is he now?"

"Locker room, I think? Something about changing his pants or whatever."

Laura brought her head to the table with a _thud._ "Ugh. Now who do I expect to feed me? I can't eat with— _this!_ _"_ She gestured to the cast on her right arm.

"Aww, is li'l Laura upset that I chased away her helper?" Maya cooed mockingly. "Y'know, I could always get someone else, right? Someone who isn't a nerd like Farkle." She looked around before loudly saying, "Hey, is that Kevin over there? Kevin! Kevin! Over here!" She called. Yes, she knew why Laura broke her arm. In fact, she and Riley had a good laugh over it when Riley told her the story.

"What?! Shut up! He'll hear you!" Laura hissed, her ears tinged with red. "Oh, no…"

"Too late," Maya smirked. Laura tried to hide under the table as a sandy-haired boy made his way over, but she kicked her in the shins, _hard._ Laura yelped and sat upright in pain just as Kevin stopped in front of them.

"Laura here needs some help, Kevin," Maya said. "I'm sure a gentleman like you wouldn't mind helping a maiden in distress, wouldn't you?" She fixed him with a not-so-subtle glare that said, _or else._

"Uh, I guess not," Kevin sat beside Laura. "So… hey, what happened to your arm?"

Maya and Riley tried to hide their snickers behind their hands as Laura fixed them with a look. _I am so killing you all later. Don_ _'_ _t you forget it._

* * *

Of course, something bad had to happen at the end of the day.

The Geography exam they had later on that Maya forgot to study for wasn't what she'd call 'bad' (unless it was her grade on said quiz she was talking about). No, it was something else. Something… _unpleasant._

"Don't look," Riley told her as they were heading out the school building.

"What?" Maya craned her neck to see what, or _who,_ Riley was talking about, but Riley smothered her in a full-body hug and all but dragged her out of the school. Groaning, Maya pried her away.

"Not that I don't enjoy being hugged by you, because believe me, I really love that, but what the hell is going on?"

"Uh, " Riley stuttered. "The high schoolers just stole the bee mascot from the elementary's theater department?"

Maya raised an eyebrow. "You're a really bad liar, you know that."

"No, no! See, look there!" Sure enough, a giant bumblebee with blue-rimmed wings (what a dumb look, Maya thought) was making it's way to the other side of the big field to where the high school buildings sat.

"Actually, they stole the suit five hours ago, so I know that," Maya said. "Come on, Riley, what's up?"

Riley's face fell. She said, "Just so you know, I don't support the idea of violence," before face-palming herself.

"What do you mean?" Maya frowned. She was deep in thought; why did Riley said she… Suddenly, it dawned on her. "Wait, this is about Brianna isn't it?"

"Ugh, forget I said that! I—"

"No, no, talk to me." Maya pressed. "Look, it's alright, alright? I get it. You have this 'no violence' belief that I don't really dig at times, but it's cool. Unless," she folded her arms. "You were saying this 'cause you thought I'd go all gung-ho on Brianna because I'd see her here somewhere?"

Riley licked her lips nervously. "No, of course not. She isn't even here! She's out with the cold sores, right?"

"Right."

"See? Ha, ha, I as worrying over nothing! Silly old me. Now, where were we heading before I dragged you aside?"

Maya raised an eyebrow, still skeptical. They may be back to being besties, but she hated when Riley wouldn't trust her with stuff- especially stuff as serious as Brianna. She was _bullied,_ for Pete's sake. Nothing about that is worth beating the bush around for just because your best friend is looking out for your best interests.

But she decided to play it cool. At least, for a while. She'd get to the bottom of this, but first, they had to have some fun.

"Well, we _were_ on our way to going to the big football game over at the high school," She said. "Unless you don't want to anymore? There's no around here to see us, cutie," She said with a playful wink.

"Ha ha, whatever. Of course we're still going to the football game. We can't miss it! It's the match of the school year!" She said, sticking out her tongue to Maya. "So come on, show me the way!"

"So demanding," Maya said. "Well, come on. I know a secret passage to the fields."

* * *

Said secret passage turned out to be the old soccer field that no one went through anymore.

"I can see why," Riley said. "I don't even know how this used to be a soccer field! It's so full of mud! And it's dirty, and there's so many fallen branches and trash and— _ahh!_ There's a big spider on my leg! Help!" She ran around, shaking her leg in hopes of getting the spider off.

"Calm down, Riley," Maya said. "At least there's no one here. Why the others insist on passing through the track field and the parking lot just to read the high school building when they can pass here, I'll never know."

"They might not even know this spot still _exists!_ If I sink through a bog, I'll make sure my ghost will haunt you forever."

Maya rolled her eyes. How can someone be so adorable and annoying at the same time? "Here, let me help you." she said, and scooped Riley in her arms, bridal style. "See? It's perfectly safe. I'm walking through the squishy, yucky mud while carrying you and we haven't fallen down yet."

"Don't be too sure!" Riley yelled. As soon as she said it, Maya lost her footing and she stumbled. Riley shrieked and tightened her hold around Maya's neck, which didn't help make the situation easier.

"Shut _up!_ _"_ Maya told her through gritted teeth. She managed to stop the two of them from flailing around, and she took a deep breath. "Shut up, okay? I'll get us out of here. I promise."

Riley sniffed and nodded, but she didn't say anything.

Shaking her head, Maya took one step forward. Then another, and another, until she was making good progress through the muddy field. Riley had stop squirming in her arms, but Maya didn't let her down. She trudged on until the bleachers of the football field were in their sights.

"Alright, princess, here we are," She all but dumped Riley on the mud. She shrieked, mouth full of dirt.

" _What the hell, Maya?_ _"_ She spat. "Do you know what you've just done? My parents are going to kill me for this!"

Maya doubled over, laughing. Riley frowned. _Two can play this game,_ she thought.

"Oh, man! You should've see your face! You looked so adorab— glumbrnd!" She spluttered as a wet patch of dirt hit her square on the face. She stood frozen in shock at what Riley had just did until the mud was making it's way inside her shirt.

Riley was laughing now. "You should've seen _your_ face! That was priceless!"

Maya smirked. "Priceless, was it? Priceless _this!_ _"_ And then she tackled Riley and they both fell in the mud, laughing and slapping and tickling each other. They were both oblivious to what else was going on around them; the only people that existed in that moment in their own little world were the two of them, playing in the mud.

"What in the blazes are you two girls doing?!" A middle-aged man ran towards them, arms flailing. "Get out of there right now! Heaven knows what kind of gunk lives there! _Out!_ "

"We are so dead," Riley whispered.

"Sorry, Coach Reiner," Maya grinned, standing up. "Just having a bit of fun."

The coach raised and eyebrow. Clearly, he didn't believe her.

After a ten-minute sermon and lecture from the coach, they were dismissed back to the school to clean up and then go to the nurse. The elementary school was already deserted since everyone had gone over to the high school to watch the big game, so Maya and Riley were in no rush to go to the locker room. The two girls were laughing as they made their way there.

"I got more mud on you than you did to me!" Riley pointed out gleefully. Maya gave her a once-over and yep, she really did have less mud than she did. Grinning, she plucked out a particularly big handful of mud from her front and smeared it over Riley, who shrieked and said, "I'll get you back for that!"

"Gotta catch me first!" Maya called back, running to the girls' locker room. She burst open the doors and instantly collided with what seemed to be a brick wall.

A breathing, _angry_ brick wall.

Riley, who was hot on her trail, stopped short once she saw her. "Oh, no…"

Brianna picked herself up from the floor, smiling wickedly at the two, wiping the mud off her shirt. "Well, well, well! If it isn't the two little brats!" She spat, starting her towards the two of them

"You know what we do to klutzes who don't watch where they're going?"

Maya, who was starting to regain some sense after the collision, instantly shot up from the floor and shielded Riley.

"Get out of the way, missy," Brianna growled.

"No! To get to her, you have to go through me first!" Maya said.

" _What the hell are you saying?_ _"_ Riley whispered to her ear.

"Just shut up, okay? I got us into this mess. I'll get us out of it!"

" _What are you saying?!_ _"_

Maya didn't get the chance to respond as she was roughly shoved out of the way. Her head hit a nearby locker pretty hard and she crumpled to the floor, dazed.

"Maya!" Riley ran to help her but a meaty hand found it's way to her neck. She was slammed against the wall, squirming uncomfortably as she felt Brianna's foul breath on her face.

"Let''s make this even," she snarled. She grabbed the girls' bags from the floor. "They may be dirty on the outside, but I bet they're not on the inside."

True enough, Riley's belongings- her clothes, wallet, iPod, notebooks, and quiz sheets remained untouched by the mud from earlier's incident. Riley's eyes widened as she realized what Brianna was about to do.

Smirking, Brianna released the hand on Riley to empty the contents to her own bag. Riley dropped to the ground, hand clutching her throat. "You— you can't just _do_ that!" she rasped.

"Who's to stop me?" Brianna taunted.

Just then, a muddy bag hit the side of Brianna's head with a loud _smack_. Riley realized it was Maya's bag— the one with the three heavy school books Riley made her bring since her own bag was full. Brianna turned around at Maya, who was shaking.

"Not you again." She growled, advancing on the blonde.

"Run! Go call for help!" Maya told Riley, who was frozen in horror as she watched Brianna grab Maya by the neck and stuff her in an open locker, slamming it shut to the fruitless pleas of her best friend.

"You tell anyone about this, you little twit, and you're dead," Brianna snarled. "You got me?!"

Riley nodded, trembling in fear. She knew how Maya hated closed spaces. She was claustrophobic, and if she didn't get her out of there soon…

She couldn't think of what would happen if she didn't.

Brianna gave her one last kick to the gut and she left, chuckling and stepping over her fingers as she went. Then Riley, dizzy with pain, had no choice but to listen to Maya's shouts of help from inside the locker as she curled up on the floor of the empty locker room.

* * *

 **Songs used as chapter names so far:**

Chapter 1:Know Your Enemy **by Green Day**

Chapter 2:Sugar, We're Goin' Down **by Fall Out Boy**

Chapter 3:I'm Not Okay (I Promise) by **My Chemical Romance**

Chapter 4:Misery Business **by Paramore**

Chapter 5:We've Got A Big Mess On Our Hands **by The Academy Is...**


End file.
